Cheer Accident

What Sequel?

In September of '94 CHEER-ACCIDENT shocked the avant-rock community by releasing a CD consisting entirely of concise, well-crafted, and highly tuneful songs. Initially greeted with much skepticism and more than a few raised eyebrows, "The Why Album" has since become arguably the band's most beloved record. Now, exactly twelve years later (to the day!), they have one-upped thir previous foray into The World Of Pop by unleashing eleven brand-new miraculously melodic and highly hummable ditties. Although the aptly-named "What Sequel?" once again finds CHEER-ACCIDENT rubbing elbows with the mainstream, fans of their more challenging music will have plenty to feast upon, too, as every single one of these songs is jam-packed with brain-enhancing twists and turns, virtually overflowing with stimulating musical adventurousness. Remarkably, all of this action is usually contained within a catchy three-minute song.

As is their way, they have made incredible use of Chicago's fertile rock, jazz, and experimental community by employing a multitude of instruments, including trombone, flute, violin, trumpet, sax, piano, accordion, and many others. Right alongside the "off the beaten path" instruments, one can usually hear the trademark CHEER-ACCIDENT rock sound via the solid foundation of guitars, bass, and drums. In other words, it always rocks and it always grooves—but there's always a little "something extra" for your brain to chew on while your toe is tapping.

And who did they find to record and mix this delicious aural concoction, now known as "What Sequel?" Well... (And perhaps this was the most noteworthy utilization of the riches Chicago has to offer...) This task was taken on by none other than the great John McEntire (Tortoise, Sea And Cake) at his very own Soma studio.

All in all, this is undoubtedly CHEER-ACCIDENT's most successful intersection of musical ideas to date: They have channeled tehir many years of experience with boundary-pushing and experimentation into a unique synthesis which just so happened to result in a pop masterpiece.

Keep In Touch

Go Gone Green

Nefarious Designs, Inc.

You Know, You Know

All Over

Surviving A Methodology

Done With The Eternal

Simple Life

Arise And Shine

Crisis Management

Crazy

Catalog#: PR6386

CD $12.99

Variations on a Goddamn Old Man Vol. 2

This is the second installment in Cheer-Accident's homemade series. With the lush synthesizers, gigantic drum sound and catchy quasi-European melodies, it's tempting to try to pass this off as their "80's album" (although it really sounds like it was recorded in the 70's). In fact, it's all from right now! Variations on a Goddamn Old Man Vol. 2 is early 21st century music at its finest: gritty, moody, hypnotic, yet hightly accessible and substantive enough to keep you coming back for more.

Await

The Middle Age

Fundamental Decency

Hit the Showers

Thither

I Hope I Don't Kill Myself

In The Wings

Made Happier Easier

Circumventing Goodbye

Catalog#: PR6381

CD $12.99

Dumb Ask

Originally released in 1991, out of print for many years, and now considered a "classic," Dumb Ask by Chicago mainstays Cheer-Accident has finally been re-availed to the public. Brilliantly engineered by Steve Albini in his basement studio, Dumb Ask reveals Cheer-Accident at their most stripped-down and aggressive. This bare-bones sonic attack, while remaining consistently spare and straightforward, never sacrifices Cheer-Accident's trademark inventiveness. Recorded before Nirvana's Nevermind and Slint's Spiderland, Dumb Ask serves as a vital historical document, placing Cheer-Accident in a sort of "alternative to the alternative" parallel universe that existed concurrently to the more "above-ground" bands in the early '90's.

Garbage Head

Small World

Everyone's Ugly Up Close

Muffy Needs a New Pair of Rose Colored Glasses

Whitewash

Fat Dog's Gonna Hatch

Elbow Deep In Turkey

Filet of Nod

Catalog#: PR6377

CD $12.99

Variations on a Goddamn Old Man

Variations on a Goddamn Old Man is the first installment in a series of recordings made at home and the band's practice space between 1995 and 1999.

It is a voyeuristic glimpse into the psyche of Cheer-Accident, one of Chicago's longest running and most fascinating musical groups. Always unpredictable, Cheer-Accident values their output that has fallen through the cracks or has not been commercially available.

This recording is the first attempt to bridge that imaginary gap. The musicians on this recording include Thymme Jones, Dylan Posa, Jeff Libersher, Jennifer Collins, Scott Rutledge and the late Phil Bonnet.

This is moody, hypnotic, challenging music from a group that defies description.

Elementary

Lineage

Whitey: 4th Down and 10

86 Career Man

Aung Sang

Preamble Ramble

Moog Homecoming

Repossession

Corn King

As Explained to Cancer

Gratuity

Catalog#: PR6376

CD $12.99

Enduring the American Dream

An incredible collection of songs, ideas, sounds and moods from Chicago's most incredible band. Better than drugs and cheaper.

"Something like the final product of setting the Communist Manifesto to the tunes from the first 2 They Might Be Giants records...this particular release has major-key left-wing revolution jingles stretched on the rack into wonderously grandiose piano pieces and interlaced with all kinds of weird strangely-tuned interrupting riffs, drones, electronic jags, and other such eruptions."- Brian Block, Amazon.com Listener Reviews

Poster - Enduring the American Dream

POSTER $3.99

Not A Food

Other greatness from Chicago's best band.

"...The band is a super-tight, well-oiled machine. Frenzied, spastic guitars soar over a machine-gun perfect rhythm section that shoots with assasin-like precision. Out of the nine tracks on the CD, Cheer-Accident proves themselves to be one hell of a great rock band."- Exclaim Magazine

"Adventurous, Abrasive, Arresting. Welcome to the world of Cheer-Accident. Not A Food is a dark prickly gem that evokes The Jesus Lizard and "Red" era King Crimson with its mesmerizing merger of polyrhythmic guitar dissonance and crack muscianship."- Chicago Tribune

Younger Than You Are Now (1981-1984)

Cheer-Accident began in 1981 as a creative communal pastime for a group of high schoolers and,finally (after 23 years), here is the document which proves it: Eccentric, eclectic, and engaging, this CD provides an exclusive glimpse at the roots of one of America's most enduring and consistently innovative bands. These twenty songs (all quite different from one another) carry the seeds of what Cheer-Accident was to become - whatever that is!